The removal of food/oral debris, the minimization of the microbial population in the mouth and throat, and the removal and prevention of plaque and calculus deposition are important for the enhancement of personal feelings of well-being (clean breath, mouth taste and mouth feel) and the prevention of oral diseases. Since the oral environment is conducive to microbial growth and subject to the reintroduction of food and microorganisms, and because plaque and calculus are continually being deposited on teeth, ideal oral hygiene methods and compositions must be a) capable of good cleansing and microbial knockdowns, b) able to remove plaque and calculus and prevent their formation, and c) convenient and safe for repetitive use. Traditional mouth washes and dentrifices suffer in all three areas.
The practice of good oral hygiene is especially complicated by the large number of limited scope methods and compositions which seem to be required in order to achieve the overall goal. These are inconvenient because they require a variety of devices, preparations and methods including extensive rubbing, brushing, pushing, flushing, etc. with devices ranging from tooth brushes to tooth picks, floss, gums, effervescent rinses and such. They often imply the availability of water, sinks, tubes, bottles and privacy.
Many current strategies for achieving good oral hygiene tend to thwart rather than foster physiological cleansing and sanitation mechanisms. Most give little or no attention to the back of the oral cavity and upper regions of the throat.
Given the cost in time, money and social awkwardness, most individuals adopt an abbreviated rather than a full program of oral care. In many cases they are motivated to do less by the realization that whatever they do vis-a-vis personal oral hygiene they cannot escape one or more annual visits to the dental hygienist for painful scaling and polishing. When faced with bad breath or objectionable residual tastes in the mouth and throat, resulting from a build up of food, oral debris, and bacteria, it is not uncommon for individuals to resort to cover-ups having stronger, more acceptable smells or tastes (mint for example) rather than a clean-up. In short, the methods and compositions currently available to the consumer do not permit the typical hygiene conscious individual to maintain a clean, plaque and calculus free mouth without the periodic painful intervention of a dental professional. In particular, what is glaringly absent is a simple inexpensive consumer based strategy which builds on physiological mechanisms existent in the oral cavity and serves to 1) keep the mouth clean between meals and snacks, 2) prevent the deposition of plaque and calculus and 3) remove deposits of plaque and calculus which form during lapses in adherence to the prevention dimension. The present invention represents just such a strategy.